Questioning the Knots of Life

In Greek mythology, the countrymen of Phrygia found themselves leaderless, without vision and direction.  The country elders, in their great wisdom, decided that the next person who came through the city gates would become their next King! Would he be a great warrior trained in battle techniques? Might he be a great academic who would bring wisdom to their kingdom? Perhaps he would be a great financier who would bring wealth like the world had never known!

It so happened that the next person who came through the gate was a lowly farmer named Gordius, slowly plodding through with his ox-cart.  As promised he was crowned King Gordius, King of Phrygia.

To celebrate his good fortune, the new King Gordius dedicated his ox-cart to the gods and tied it to a pillar with an intricate knot—a knot unlike anyone had ever seen.  The knot was so perfect that no one could find an end.  It was impossible to untie.  Travelers would come just to view the masterfully tied knot, and from far and wide they called it the “Gordian Knot.”

After Gordius’ death, the elders, again in their great wisdom, proclaimed that the person who could untie the knot would become the next king of all of Asia!  You would have thought that they would have learned their lesson!

Legend has it that Alexander the Great looked at the knot and quickly tired of searching for the two ends. With a lightening quick stroke of his sword he divided the knot in two and was crowned the King of Asia.  Hence the saying, “to cut the Gordian knot” now means to solve a difficult problem by a simple, bold, and effective action.

Sometimes a difficult problem is solved by one simple, to-the-point, question.

I love piercing questions.  I have often said that I will never be the smartest person at the table, but I want to be the one who asks the most relevant question, so the smart ones can come to the best decision.

What is the best question you have ever been asked?  I don’t mean something like: “Do you want porterhouse steak, or grilled salmon?” I mean a question that cuts through the fog, and clearly identifies the primary answer.

Have you noticed that Jesus was an expert at asking fog-cutting questions?  Just skim over some of the stories in the Bible and you will find that He used questions as one of the primary ways to clearly identify the truth:

• To Peter after he had denied Christ: “Do you love me?”
• To the disciples after He stilled the storm: “Why are you so afraid?”
• To the man possessed by demons: “What is your name?”
• To the disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”
• To Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb: “Woman, why are you crying?”

None of these questions can be responded to with a shallow answer.  Christ’s questions pierced the truth and demanded a confession of faith.  Each one of these questions, when answered with absolute honesty, set them free—free of their fear, denial, misunderstandings, or sin. 

There is one last question that I saved until last because it is my favorite.  I love this question of Jesus, not because it uses a nice turn of a phrase, or because it is quite ingenious.  It moves me because even though it was asked of a blind man sitting on the side of a road, Jesus could be looking directly at us asking the exact same question and genuinely waiting for an answer.

He asked, “What would you like for me to do for you today?”

What is your answer?

Lamentations and Origami Elephants

This January was the start of what I call my “Bible Gulping Journey.” I was in the middle of a three week fast when I was hit by some of the worst depression and oppression I have ever dealt with in my life. Angst. Sleeplessness. The whole works. I felt God tell me to begin reading the Psalms and not stop. I kept reading until I read all 150 chapters…twice. I realized that I was so hungry that I gulped God’s Word as if my life depended on it.

Yesterday, after only two months, I finished reading the entire Bible.

I couldn’t help but read Leviticus while waiting in the airport, Romans while waiting for the boys to get out of Youth Group, and to sneak in a minor prophet or two before I left for work. I was addicted. I am sure the college baseball player from Georgetown University sitting beside me on the plane thought I was crazy for reading all of Lamentations the whole two-hour flight. He was productively busy, too. He learned how to make an origami elephant out of a dollar bill.

At first I figured out that if I read four pages a day, six days a week, I could read it in a year, but I was so spiritually hungry that I began reading whole books at a time. There were days that I read for four hours at a time. I couldn’t imagine starting to read unless I could read the whole book in one sitting. The patterns came alive! Repeated words made sense! I smelled the battles, heard the angels singing, and stood with the disciples at the cross. I began to see the big picture…just as God wanted me to!

Oh, and the stories! Blinded eyes were healed. Waters were divided. Thousands were fed. Battles were won! Death was defeated…and I don’t have enough time to tell you about the story of covenantal love that is interwoven in and out of almost every book of the Bible. God loves us so much that He says it over and over and over and over again!

I do want to share some quick observations that I was reminded of on this Bible Gulping Journey. Because I am a preacher, I would like to camp out and preach a sermon on each one, but I will refrain myself. I think they will all stand on their own:

• God will do what He says He will do. No kidding.
• Our God is serious about the covenants He makes. We best do the same.
• Man’s worst is nothing compared to God’s best.
• God’s love is huge, and His Fatherly voice is so personal.
• Don’t mess with God.
• Sin means death and a total separation from the One who loves unconditionally.
• God is in complete control of our seemingly uncontrollable circumstances.
• Jesus…He was born like us, died for us, raised in spite of us, and waits expectantly for us.
• The end of this earth is completely planned by God Himself. He wins.
• Heaven is real.

I am still thirsty… for the Word, that is. I can’t wait to start reading again. All I need now is my origami elephant bookmark!

The Most Culturally Inept American

               Today I met the most culturally inept American, I believe.  I was horrified when he spoke to my visiting international friend—all in the name of either poor humor or cultural ignorance.

                I have been hosting a godly Indian brother.  He has shared with us the sad situation of Indian baby girls not wanted by their parents because they are seen as a financial burden to the family.  Unfortunately the parents often abandon the baby girl, or in some cases the mother suffocates the child to death so they do not have to take her home from the hospital.  My friend and his wife have given up their own home to adopt 20 little girls who were orphaned. 

                As my Indian friend explained to a group the plight of millions of little girls, a man said, “Will India really miss a couple thousand little girls?” and then laughingly cheered when it was said that women unfortunately become the slaves to the men.  Later he actually asked my friend if he had killed any little girls.  My heart was, and still is, in pain.                 

         I have tried my best to put his extremely rude comments in some sort of context.  I confess I am having difficulty doing it, though.  Why would someone believe that it was OK to make such painful comments? 

                First, I recognize that the majority of Americans have not, nor will not, ever have the cultural appreciation that comes with traveling internationally.  Many Americans unfortunately believe that the world looks and feels just like us—wealthy, safe, educated, protected.  Thinking with a larger world-view is not something that comes naturally to them.    Most people in America do not recognize the very difficult life that most of the world’s citizens go through every single day:

• 17.4 million people in Latin America live and work as total slaves.
• 50% of earth’s population lives on less than $2.50 a day.
• 925 million people will go to bed hungry every day—three times the population of the US.
• 91% of the languages of the world do not have the whole Bible in their own heart language.

                     But ignorance is no excuse, is it?   It is a handicap that negatively effects what the world thinks of us.  It’s no wonder much of the world’s citizens think of us as the “ugly Americans.”

                    Second, what would have happened if this man had asked my friend what life in India was like?  He would have found that even this man of God, and executive for a very large missions organization, must heat water every morning just so he and his wife would have a warm splash bath.  Perhaps he would have heard that he and his 20 adopted girls eat meat only once or so a week because it is very expensive.  Perhaps he would have heard that every day they hear of Christians being tortured or even decapitated because of their love for Christ.

                My mental gymnastics above have done very little to assuage the pain in my heart after hearing such hurtful comments.    I guess I just needed to talk it out somehow.  Thanks for your ear.

                But let me just say this.  To my godly Indian friend, I am humbled to be loved by you.  You show me what it means to live a Christ-like life and I am proud to be called your brother.  May God honor you and your selfless ministry because you show me and the rest of the world what it means to love others as Christ loved the Church.

Steady By Jerks

I have had some hair-raising journeys while traveling in 38 different countries.  I have had to stand guard watching for lions in Nigeria while our flat tire was fixed;  I have held on for dear life as I as my taxi driver in Istanbul decided to race down the sidewalk;  I have almost been bitten by imaginary snakes on the jungle path while hunting monkeys in Bolivia; and I have sat on luggage in the flat bed of a farm truck as we journeyed through the beautiful green hills of Papua Guinea.    With each journey there were lessons and laughter, scars and silence,  and more than anything, beginnings and endings.

I am amazed at how many “journey” stories there are in the Bible!  I am guessing that I could preach a sermon every Sunday for a year focusing on the many journey stories.  Just think about the significant journey’s of the Old Testament.  There was Noah journeying with God through the flood.  There was Moses leading the Israelites to freedom.  There was Joshua conquering every foe as he led the Israelites into the Promised Land.  Let’s not forget Jacob as he journeyed north as he ran away from his angry brother, Esau. Don’t get me started on the journey of Jonah!

The New Testament is full of journeys, too.  There was the spiritual journey of Saul becoming Paul.  The disciples sure got a picture of Jesus’ power as they journeyed across the Sea of Galilee while their Master slept.  There was the journey of the men on the road to Emmaus who had the privilege of walking with the risen Savior.  And of course, we cannot forget Jesus’ journey to the cross.

I guess the word “journey” has become significant for me as I have watched the Lord continue to melt, mold and move me to the place He desires for me.  Here are some general lessons that continue to pop out at me as I read the journey stories in the Bible and live them out myself:

1. Every journey has a beginning…(wait for it)…and every journey has an ending.
2. Journeys have a discovery aspect to them that can only take place when you push yourself to round the next corner.
3. I have found that journeys are costly, but pay huge dividends in the end.
4. The choice is not whether you will go on the journey, but what will you learn from the journey.
5. Most journeys are what my mom used to call “steady by jerks.”
6. Normally we never choose to go on the journey, but we sure are glad that we did in the end.
7. No place ever worth getting to was arrived at without a difficult journey preceding it.

The lessons of the journey have so shaped me and my direction that I wanted to create this blog called “Notes for the Journey” just to share some of the lessons that I have learned, and hopefully gain some more insights from the readers. 

Thanks for taking the journey with me. 

Peace on the journey.

Coloring the Context of the First Christmas

We have all read the Christmas story so many times that we tend to stop searching for anything new that would help us to understand it better.  Here are some little known facts of the story and questions that may help us to find new meaning in this Christmas season:

• The Censes:       Judea had just been annexed by the Roman Empire in 6 BC.  At 3 AD (9 years later) the Roman government required all of the Judean citizens to travel to the city of their birth to be counted in the first Roman censes.  This new foreign government brought a lot of political and social uncertainty to Mary and Joseph.  Can you imagine the questions and concerns they were having?  What will happen to our country?  Will taxes increase? Religious freedom? 

 

• Pregnancy:         I, being a man all of my life (!), can’t imagine being pregnant.  Much less, I can’t imagine being nine months pregnant and riding on a donkey!  The trip that Mary and Joseph took from Nazareth to Bethlehem was a rough 80 mile journey.  Riding on a donkey for 4-6 days would have been extremely uncomfortable, to say the least!  Traveling alone would be dangerous, so they probably were in a caravan because many people were traveling to their home towns for the censes.  Can you imagine the challenges, pain and concern that Mary had on that journey?

 

• Gifts:                     The Magi brought gifts that were theologically and prophetically significant.  Gold was traditionally a symbol of divinity.  It was a significant hint of the baby’s divine status.   Frankincense was a resin or gum that was obtained from trees and historically was burned as an incense during sacrifices.  It signified holiness and righteousness.  This gift pointed to the new Messiah’s future willingness to become a sacrifice to all.  Myrrh also came from the gum of a tree.  Traditionally it was used in a spice that was used as an embalming liquid at death.  It represented the ultimate ending to the new Messiah’s life.  Do you think they thought of the gift’s  significance, or do you think God just winked and said to his angels, “Watch this”?

 

• Magi:                     The Magi, or wise men, should instead be called “faith men” in my opinion.  The reason is because they travelled such a great distance standing on faith that the star they saw had a divine meaning.  Tradition says that they probably lived in Persia, or modern day Iran.  They would have known of the prophesied Messiah because Daniel had been the chief of the court of seers in Persia and had given a time line of His coming.  This trip would have taken no less than two to three months on a camel caravan.  What is it that you have had to live by faith here of late?  Are you willing to faith it through even though you don’t know the outcome?

May God give each of you a holy desire to find more of the Messiah this Christmas.

Of Sheep and of Angels

Of Sheep and of Angels

 I have been standing in the leather sandals of Bethlehem’s shepherds here of late.  No, I am not on a tour of Israel currently.  In my personal Bible study I have purposely tried to insert myself in their drama.  On that dark night the shepherds were on a rocky hillside when they received word that their long-awaited Messiah had just arrived.  I have been trying to smell the musky wool mixed with fresh dung.    I have tried to feel the crisp chill in the night air and listen to the constant bleating of the dumb animals.  I have imagined squinting from the brilliant light and tried to hear the angelic choir as it lit up the night with beautiful music and even more shocking news.  

But it’s the questions that really get me.

 I am positive they asked, “Why us?”  Shepherds were not known in that day to be the leaders of society.  They tended to be the homeless outcasts of the community. They lived on the rocky hills of Judea with smelly goats and even more smelly men.  They were rough and tumble farmers who had no societal pull, nor cared to be in any sort of lime-light.  Why would God decide to let them be the very first people to hear that their long-awaited Messiah had arrived?

 “Why now?” For hundreds of years Jewish shepherds had passed down to their sons the story of how God would provide a Messiah for His specially chosen people.  God had used prophets, angels and miracles to communicate with the Israelites.  But He had been silent for 400 years.  No miracles.  No angelic appearances.  No nothing.  And now these shepherds were chosen to hear the news that “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you…!” What a confusing honor I am sure they felt.

 While they stood in the barn looking at this baby wrapped in rags I am confident they asked, “Why Him?”  The Jews of that day were ready for God to send His Great warrior Messiah riding over the hills in a golden chariot to force their Roman oppressors from their land and bring about Jehovah’s great Kingdom of Peace!  But now the shepherds looked down at a baby who was blowing raspberries and a faint smell of a dirty nappy.  And somehow they recognized that God was in all of this, and they worshipped.

 It was all so confusing.  So many questions.  God chose normal people in a strange time to do something spectacular.  It didn’t make sense.  It didn’t happen as it was supposed to.  But when God spoke, they acted.

 So I have two questions for you.  What question of Him do you have? and, How will you respond even when you don’t get your answer?

Blogging with Hobbits and Hula Hoops

Blogging is for people who have something worthy to say. Or at least that is what I always thought. I never felt I had anything worth reading, to be honest. 

But have you done a survey of blog topics lately?! Here are some real blog topics that I have recently found:

• A blog on extinct hobbits
• A blog on how to skip wearing deodorant and still smell good
• A blog on the dangers of hula hoops (I personally like this one over the previous blog!)
• A blog with real pictures of unicorns
• There are even blogs on the worst blogs!

After my very scientific survey of the current scene of blogs out today I came to a startling recognition: One does not have to have anything worthy to say to have one’s own blog!  So, here I am!

I wanted to write a blog because, well, I have a few things to say.  I am passionate about a few things that I would love to spend my life getting others excited about.  They are actually in the tag line of the blog title:

Think strategically…Lead selflessly…Act biblically

I don’t intend to get into each one of them now, because all of them deserve multiple stories, cups of coffee and tears to do them justice.  I will just dole them out as I am moved. 

Hopefully you will be moved too…and will respond.  But I can’t wait to wrestle with these topics together and see how the Lord would challenge us all together.

Thanks for taking the journey with me….and I promise never to write on hula hooping hobbits who don’t use deodorant!